SoftBank Pulls Barclays Off Sprint Bid

SoftBank Corp. has removed Barclays Plc from a role in financing the Japanese company’s $20 billion planned takeover of Sprint Nextel Corp., after the British bank began advising a rival bidder, people familiar with the matter said.

Bloomberg

Barclays has the lead advising and financing role on efforts by Dish Network Corp., revealed this week, to top SoftBank’s bid for Sprint.

On the SoftBank deal, Barclays had a limited role on a bond deal being rolled out that is being coordinated by Deutsche Bank AG, some of the people said.

Barclays kept its involvement with Dish confidential until the company went public with its plans on Monday to avoid tipping anyone off that another bid was in the works, one of the people said.

Barclays’s role on the Dish deal, if it succeeds, would be far more lucrative than the much-smaller part it had in helping SoftBank raise money to buy Sprint.

Banks can reap tens of millions of dollars in fees for advising and financing mega-deals. In situations where a rival bidder emerges, it is not uncommon for a bank with a minor role for one bidder to also do work for another.

In the case of the current bidding contest for computer maker Dell Inc Morgan Stanley had a role on financing a buyout led by private-euity firm Silver Lake Partners. When rival buyout shop Blackstone Group LP, emerged with a potential topping bid, Morgan Stanley took a job as adviser and financier to Blackstone. Still, Morgan Stanley currently continues to retain a small financing role on the Silver Lake bid.

UPDATE: An earlier version of this post incorrectly implied in the fifth paragraph SoftBank would be buying Dish. It is attempting to buy Sprint.